LSAT Extra Time Accommodations
Extra time is the most common LSAT accommodation. It does not make the test easier. It removes the penalty for a disability that slows you down.
On a standard LSAT, each scored section gives you 35 minutes. With extra time, you get more. Time and a half (about 52 minutes per section) is the most common grant, but LSAC decides the amount case by case. Nobody is guaranteed a specific amount. The amount depends on your documentation and your history.
Who extra time helps
Extra time is for test takers whose disability affects processing speed, reading speed, or sustained attention. That includes many learning disabilities, ADHD, and some visual or physical conditions. The key question LSAC asks is not whether you have a diagnosis. It is whether the disability currently limits you on a timed test, and whether you have a history that shows it.
Having a diagnosis alone is not enough. LSAC wants evidence of current impact: how the condition affects you now, not ten years ago. And it wants history: extra time you received in school, on the SAT or ACT, or in college. A long record of accommodations makes approval much more likely.
What documentation LSAC asks for
For most conditions, you need a current professional evaluation that names the diagnosis, describes the testing done, and explains the current functional impact. "Current" generally means recent enough to reflect how you function now. For a condition that does not change much over time, older records plus proof of ongoing accommodations can work. For conditions that change, expect LSAC to want something recent.
You also need your own statement: a short, plain account of how the disability affects your test taking. Write it yourself, in your own words. Describe what happens during a timed section. Where do you lose time? What breaks down? Specific beats general. "I re-read every paragraph three times because I lose the thread" is better than "I have trouble concentrating."
How the request process works
- Register for a test date first. You request accommodations for a specific administration. Do not wait for approval to register.
- Submit through your LSAC account. The request, the candidate form, the evidence of disability, and your statement of need all go in by the accommodations deadline for your test date. That deadline is earlier than the regular registration deadline. Check it before you plan anything.
- Wait for the decision. LSAC reviews the file and decides what, if anything, to grant. It may grant what you asked for, grant something different, or deny the request.
- Appeal if you are denied. A denial is not the end. You can submit additional documentation and ask for reconsideration. Many approvals happen on the second round.
Start early. Gathering an evaluation can take months, and the accommodations deadline does not move. If you think you will need extra time, start the paperwork before you start studying in earnest.
Practice the way you will test
This is the part most people get wrong. If you study under standard timing and then test with extra time, the extra time feels strange. Your pacing instincts will be calibrated to the wrong clock. Once your accommodations are approved, do your timed practice under your accommodated timing.
But keep one habit from standard prep: the discipline of moving on. Extra time does not mean unlimited time. Students with time and a half still run out of minutes when they sink five of them into one question. The same rules apply. Flag it, move on, come back.
What extra time does not do
Extra time does not change what is tested, lower the difficulty, or get marked on your score report in a way schools see as different. Your score is your score. It also does not fix a preparation problem. If you are missing questions because you do not understand conditional reasoning, extra minutes will not save you. Fix the reasoning first. Then the time helps.
Prep that fits your timing
The free diagnostic shows where you are losing points, so your study hours go to the right problems.